Bradshaw’s Canals and Navigable Rivers of England and Wales 1904 is a wonderful read. The prose searches for an encyclopedic series of formal and logical cross-references so as to eradicate any possibility of even the slightest ambiguity or lacuna. The result is enchanting – here is a selection, presented as a prose-poem.
Bradshaw’s Canals and Navigable Rivers of England and Wales 1904
(1) – EXPLANATION OF TERMS USED IN THIS WORK
‘The expression “navigable” in this Work means navigable for the purposes of trade; waterways which can only be used by rowing boats, &c., for pleasure purposes are not dealt with.
(2.) – CANAL NAVIGATIONS AND RIVER NAVIGATIONS
Canal navigations have the advantage of providing still water for the passage of craft …
On river navigations, the advantage given by the current to vessels going down stream does not compensate for the disadvantage they encounter from the same cause when going up stream …
The traffic on river navigations is more liable to be interrupted by floods and drought… When the banks of a river overflow … it becomes a trackless waste, where risk of the navigator losing his way is great, and headroom under bridges is much diminished.
Weeds also exercise an effect on the depth of water at the top of reaches in rivers according to the season …
The traffic on river navigations is not stopped by frost as soon as it is on canals …
On rivers having weirs in which there is removable tackle, navigation is often assisted by the system of “flashing”, or, as it is sometimes called, “flushing.”
Any ordinary boatman can find his way in safety over a canal on which he has never travelled before, but if his journey extends over rivers the extra cost of a man with local knowledge to pilot him is often incurred.
Again, there are navigations and portions of navigations which may be described as intermittent, that is, those on which the passage of the trade is confined to spring tides owing to there not being sufficient depth of water on neap tides…
(3) – HAULAGE
(a) Hauling by Horses.
Hauling by horses is till the system most in use … and in it must be included hauling by mules, which is rare, and by pairs of donkeys, or, as they are termed, “animals,” which are much used for boats on the Stroudwater Canal …
Canal towpaths vary considerably, from the well-appointed and well-metalled way to the neglected track – often in winter nothing but a slough of mire …
River towing-paths, unlike those belonging to canals, are usually not fenced off from adjacent land …
When the towing-path changes from one side of the navigation to the other, means for transferring horses to the opposite bank are necessary. In the case of canals, bridges are always provided for this purpose… On rivers, bridges are not always so conveniently placed … ferry boats, which in some cases are owned and worked by the navigation, as on the Upper Thames, take their place… Fords, now happily almost extinct, are another means of crossing horses from one bank to another…
The following are about the average speeds attained by a narrow or monkey boat hauled by a horse in a narrow boat canal in fair order: –
1 narrow boat, loaded, hauled by one horse, about 2 m.p.h.
1 narrow boat, loaded, hauled by one horse, about 3 m.p.h.
2 narrow boats, loaded, hauled by one horse, about 1 and a half m.p.h.
2 narrow boats, empty, hauled by one horse, about 2 and a half m.p.h.
(b) Bow hauling or hauling by men.
There is but little bow hauling done now, and what there is is restricted to occasional use for quite short distances …
In the early days of canals the bow hauling interest must have been very strong, as we find clauses inserted in Acts of Parliament enacting that barges on certain navigations shall be “haled” by men only …
In a paper on the past and present conditions on the River Thames read before the Institution of Civil Engineers, January, 1856 … we read: – “ The traffic on the Upper Thames was in the last century principally conducted by large barges carrying as much as 200 tons each, and hauled against the stream by 12 or 14 horses, or 50 to 80 men; these men were usually of the worst possible character, and a terror to the whole neighbourhood of the river.”
(c) Sailing.
Sailing is suitable for districts where the country is flat, with long reaches of water without locks, and where there are few trees to break the wind; it is also a valuable assistance to drifting with the tide or stream when the wind is favourable.
(d) Drifting with the Tide or Stream.
Drifting on the ebb or flow tide, or down stream in the non-tidal portion of a river is usually supplemented by sailing, steam, or horse haulage, as otherwise progress would be needlessly slow …
Vessels drifting must of necessity be very unmanageable, as a rudder is practically useless unless the vessel is travelling faster than the water in which it floats.
(e) Haulage by Steam or other Mechanical Power.
Although successful installations of electrical haulage are in use on portions of continental waterways, they have not as yet been established in this country. Oil engines have been tried but have never passed much beyond the experimental stage.
Steam haulage is in use to a greater or lesser degree on all the principal rivers …
Steam haulage is in use on all the Ship Canals …
At first sight it may appear surprising that the use of steam haulage has not become more general … especially considering the expense and risk of epidemic incurred in keeping large numbers of horses, but the true reason is that so few of our canals are at all adapted for it …
Contrary to what is often supposed steam haulage on the ordinary narrow boat and barge canals adds but little to the speed of the vessels over horse haulage … the rate of progress is limited by the ease with which the water can get past the vessel as it travels, which is governed by the proportion of the cross section of the waterway to the immersed section …
Steamers have the advantage … in being able to travel continuously night and day …
The question of injury caused to canal banks and works by the wash of steamers is a very vexed one …
The Severn is the navigation where the greatest number of vessels are towed together at one time. Between Gloucester and Worcester as many as two dozen narrow boats are sometimes towed behind one tug, the boats being in two parallel lines.
(4) APPLIANCES FOR OVERCOMING CHANGES OF LEVEL
(a) Locks.
A lock, as is generally known, consists of a pit or chamber built usually in bricks or masonry, and provided at both ends with a gate or gates and suitable sluices, whereby the level of the water in the lock chamber can be made to correspond as required with the level of the navigation at either end …
The ordinary shape of a lock is naturally rectangular, so as to consume no more water than is necessary …
Locks, as a rule, are not constructed to give a greater fall each than from 6 to 8 feet, as otherwise they would use an excessive amount of water, and the bottom gates would become of abnormal size …
The provision of an adequate supply of water to canals is often an expensive matter. Each time a vessel passes through a summit level or highest pound of a canal it consumes two locks of water … To maintain the supply of water to the summit … impounding reservoirs are generally provided to store the rainfall from as wide an area as possible … often supplemented by pumping from wells and from streams where available.
Economy in the use of lockage water can be obtained (1) by substituting lifts or inclined planes … (2) by pumping back the water from the lowest to the highest level …
“Waiting turns” is a system practiced in dry weather at a flight of locks to economise water… boats are not allowed to follow each other indiscriminately, but that for every boat that goes down the locks one shall also come up, and vice versa, thus making sure that the maximum amount of traffic is passed for the water consumed …
Staircase locks, or as they are sometimes termed “Risers,” are locks arranged in flight without any intermediate pools, so that the top gates of one lock are also the bottom gates of the lock above. This arrangement is used … where the slope of ground to be surmounted is steep, but it has the disadvantage that vessels which are over half the size the lock will contain cannot pass each other …
“A boat locking down from the higher … requires a lock full of water minus the amount it displaces; a boat locking up … requires a lock full of water plus the amount it displaces; thus, it will be seen that a loaded boat requires more water than an empty one when locking up hill, and that an empty one requires more water than a loaded one when locking down hill.”
Throughout the main body of the barge and narrow boat canals, the lock gates and paddles (the latter are variously known as “slats,” “slackers,” and “cloughs,”) are invariably operated by manual labour. The rack and pinion is the usual gear for opening and closing paddles, the spindle of the pinion having a square on the end to take a portable crank or windlass carried by the boatmen … In a few localities, gear which requires the use of a handspike is still in existence …
(b) Navigation weirs or Staunches.
They are at best rude and primitive devices, having the sole merit of being cheap, and can only exist where the traffic is small, as their use entails what is practically, to use a railway phrase, single line working. The system consists in providing, instead of a lock, an opening for the passage of vessels through a weir, which can be opened or closed at will, so that the water of the river can be penned back in the reach above or allowed to run level, or nearly so, with the water in the top of the reach below. The passage of the water … is also assisted by sundry side sluices … The opening or closing of the navigation passage is effected either by a gate or gates similar to those of a lock, or a shutter or “clough,” which is wound up vertically by suitable gear, or in the case of three navigation weirs still in use on the Upper Thames, by removing a number of the rimers and paddles of which the weir consists and opening a portion of the bridge specially constructed to swing aside for the purpose … In navigating downstream on a river provided with staunches, a man must be sent in advance to set the staunch, and sufficient water allowed to accumulate …
(c) Lifts.
Lifts are of two kinds: vertically ascending lifts and inclined plane lifts.
(5) – TUNNELS.
In the tunnels of early date, towing paths were never constructed, and except where steam haulage is in use, the method of propelling boats … is either “shafting” or “legging.” Shafting consists of pushing with a long pole or shaft against the top or sides of a tunnel … and is generally only used in short tunnels. Legging is performed by two men, one on each side … if the tunnel is too wide to admit of their reaching the side walls with their feet from the boat’s deck, … “wings” are brought into use for them to lie on … Legging is hard work and in former days used to be performed by women as well as men. At the tunnels where traffic is good professional leggers are in attendance …
(6) – BRIDGES.
The type of overline canal bridge most commonly found in this country is the single-arch brick or stone bridge having the towing-path carried under it alongside the waterway. In districts affected by subsidences due to mining operations, iron girder bridges are largely used, as they can be more readily raised when the headroom under them diminishes.
(7) – AQUEDUCTS.
A remarkable instance of road, canal, and railway, on three different levels, is to be seen near Hanwell in Middlesex. Here the short aqueduct carrying … the Grand Junction Canal over the Great Western Branch Railway from Southall to Brentford is also surmounted by the bridge carrying the high road from Greenford to Osterley Park. The three ways of communication make approximately angles of 60 degrees with each other at their point of crossing, and an imaginary plumb line could be drawn to intersect all of them.
(8) – TIDES.
In navigable waters, under the influence of the ebb and flow of the tide, traffic, as a rule, has to be conducted in the same direction as that in which the tidal current is moving at the time. The difference of level of the tide at high and low water, the velocity of the tidal current, the distance inland to which the periods of ebb and flow extend, and the further distance to which the effect of the tide is felt by backing up the land water vary very much. It must always be remembered that the tide is greatly affected both as regards the time of high and low water and the height to which it rises or falls by the wind …
The tide flowing past Sharpness Point on the Severn, the entrance to the Gloucester and Berkeley Ship Canal, is at times credited with a velocity of twelve knots (nearly fourteen miles) per hour …
The phenomenon of the first of the flood tide flowing up a river in the form of a tidal wave, or as it is termed “Bore” or “Aegre,” is met with in certain of the rivers at spring tides whose channels suddenly contract from wide estuaries, thus causing the advancing water to be heaped up. The term “bore” is applied … in rivers of the West Coast of England, while “aegre” … in the … East Coast…
(9) – PRINCIPAL TYPES OF VESSELS USED IN INLAND NAVIGATION.
(a) Non-Sailing Vessels.
“Narrow” boats or “monkey” boats are by far the most numerous type of vessel …
The ordinary type of long-distance travelling narrow boat carries from 25 to 30 tons and is built with rounded bilges. The narrow boats in use on the Severn and in a few other localities for short-distance traffic are built with square bilges, and carry up to 40 tons. This latter class of boat requires more power to haul, as it offers more resistance to the water …
(b) Sailing Vessels.
Severn trows measure about 70ft. long by 17ft. beam, and draw when empty from between 3ft. to 4ft., they carry about 120 tons on a draught of from 8ft. 6in. to 9ft. 6in.
(10) – TABLES OF PRINCIPAL THROUGH ROUTES OF INLAND NAVIGATION IN ENGLAND AND WALES.
London to Liverpool: Routes 1, 2 and 3.
London to Hull: Routes 1 and 2.
London to the Severn (Avonmouth Docks): Route 1.
London to the Severn (Sharpness Docks): Route No. 1.
Navigation Thames From Limehouse To Inglesham Miles146
Locks 47 Max Vessel Size 100’ Approx Draught 3’6” 191 miles,
102 locks.
London to the Severn (Sharpness Docks): Route No. 2.
Thames From Limehouse To Brentford; then Grand Junction to Braunston; then Oxford Canal to Napton; then Warwick & Napton Canal to Budbrooke (near Warwick); then Warwick & Birmingham Canal to Kingswood; then Stratford-upon-Avon to King’s Norton; then Worcester & Birmingham Canal to Worcester; then River Severn to Gloucester; then Gloucester & Berkeley Ship Canal to Sharpness. 219 miles and 230 locks.
Liverpool to the Severn (Sharpness Docks): Route No. 1.
River Mersey from Liverpool to Eastham; then Manchester Ship Canal to Ellesmere Port; then Shropshire Union Canals to Autherley; then Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal to Stourport; then River Severn to Gloucester; then Gloucester & Berkeley Ship Canal to Sharpness. 160 miles and 84 locks.
Liverpool to the Severn (Sharpness Docks): Route No. 2.
River Mersey from Liverpool to Eastham; then Manchester Ship Canal to Runcorn; then Bridgewater Canal to Preston Brook; then Trent & Mersey Canal to Haywood; then Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal to Aldersley; then Birmingham Canals to Birmingham (Worcester Wharf); then Worcester & Birmingham Canal to Worcester; then River Severn to Gloucester; then Gloucester & Berkeley Ship Canal to Sharpness. 190 miles and 162 locks.
London to Hull: Routes 1, 2 and 3.
Birmingham to London.
Birmingham to Liverpool: Routes 1 and 2.
Birmingham to Hull.
Birmingham to the Severn (Sharpness Docks): Route 1
Worcester and Birmingham Canal to Worcester then River Severn to Gloucester; then Gloucester & Berkeley Ship Canal to Sharpness. 75 miles and 61 locks.
Birmingham to the Severn (Sharpness Docks): Route 2
From Worcester Wharf, Birmingham on the Birmingham Canals to Black Delph; then Stourbridge Canal to Stourton; then Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal to Stourport; then River Severn to Gloucester; then Gloucester & Berkeley Ship Canal to Sharpness. 89 miles and 49 locks.
Birmingham to the Severn (Sharpness Docks): Route 3
From Worcester Wharf, Birmingham on the Birmingham Canals to Aldersley; then Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal to Stourport; then River Severn to Gloucester; then Gloucester & Berkeley Ship Canal to Sharpness. 99 miles and 61 locks.
(11) – THE WHOLE OF THE NAVIGABLE WATERWAYS … IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER … AND THE FLOOWING INFORMATION ABOUT EACH ONE:-
(a) Short description, main line from – to -, branches from – to -, &c. (b) Proprietors … (c) Table of distances …
(d) Locks. (e) Maximum size of vessels … (f) Tunnels … (g) Towing-path. (h) Tidal Information. (i) Types of vessels using the Navigation, and notes as to Steam Traffic.
Abbey Creek, Aberdare Canal, Acle Dike, River Adur, River Aire, Aire and Calder Navigation, Aire and Calder and Sheffield and South Yorkshire Junction Canal, Ancholme Drainage and Navigation, Arun,
Avon (Bristol), Avon (Warwickshire) Lower Navigation,
Aylesbury Branch Canal, Aylsham Navigation,
Barking Creek, Barnes’ Dike, Barnsley Canal,
Basingstoke Canal, Beeston Cut, Bentley Canal,
Berkeley Ship Canal, Beverley Beck, Bevil’s Beam,
Bilston Branch Canal, Birmingham Canal Navigations,
Birmingham and Fazeley Canal,
Birmingham and Liverpool Junction Canal,
Birmingham and Warwick Junction Canal,
Black Ham Drain, Blackbrook Branch Canal,
Black Sluice Drainage and Navigation
Bradford Canal, Bradley Branch Canal, Brandon River,
Brecon and Abergavenny Canal, Brewery Cut Canal, Breydon Water, Bridgewater Canal,
Bridgwater and Taunton Canal,
Brinklow Wharf Branch Canal,
Broadwater Branch Navigation, Bromley Branch Canal,
River Brue, Buckingham Branch Canal, Bude Canal, River Bure, Burslem Branch Canal, Burwell Lode,
Calder and Hebble Navigation, Caldon Branch Canal,
River Cam, Chelmer and Blackwater Navigation,
Chelsea Creek, Chester Canal Navigation,
Chesterfield Canal, River Chet, Chichester Canal, Churchbridge Branch Canal, Cirencester Branch Canal,
City Mills River, City Road Basin Branch Canal,
Clifton and Kearsley Coal Co.’s (Ltd.) Canal,
River Colne, Common Broad,
Corps Landing Branch Navigation, Counter Wash Drain,
Coventry Canal, Cowbridge Drain, River Cray,
Cromford Canal, Cumberland Branch Canal,
Danks Branch Canal, Darenth River,
Dartford and Crayford Navigation,
Dartmouth Branch Canal, Daw End Branch Canal,
Deane and Dove Canal, River Dee, Deptford Creek,
Derby Canal, River Derwent (Derby),
River Derwent (Durham), River Derwent (York), Dewsbury Cut, Dewsbury Old Cut,
Digbeth Branch Canal, Dixon’s Branch Canal,
River Don (Durham), River Don (Yorkshire),
Douglas Lower Navigation, Driffield Navigation,
Droitwich Canal, Droitwich Junction Canal,
Duckett’s Canal, Dudley Canal, Duke’s Cut,
River Dun Navigation, Dunkirk Branch Canal,
Dutch River, Eau Brink Cut, Ellesmere Canal,
Ellesmere Branch Canal, Elsecar Branch Canal,
Engine Branch Canal, Smethwick, Erewash Canal,
Exeter Ship Canal, Fairbotham Branch Canal,
Farcet River, Fearnley Cut, Fleet Dike, Forty Foot River, River Foss, Foxley Branch Canal,
Gerard’s Bridge Branch Canal,
Giant’s Grave and Briton Ferry Canal, River Gipping,
Glamorganshire and Aberdare Canals,
Glan-Y-Wern Canal, Glasson Dock Branch Canal,
River Glen, Gloucester and Berkeley Ship Canal,
Gospel Oak Branch Canal, Gower Branch Canal,
Grand Junction Canal, Grand Surrey Canal,
Grand Trunk Canal, Grand Union Canal,
Grand Western Canal, Grantham Canal,
Gravesend and Rochester Canal,
Griff Colliery Company’s Canal, Grosvenor Canal,
Guildsfield Branch Canal, Hackney Canal, Haines Branch Canal, Halford Branch Canal, Halifax Branch Canal,
Hall Green Branch Canal, Hardley Dike,
Hatherton Branch Canal, Lord Hay’s Branch Canal, Heigham Sound, Hertford Union Canal,
Heywood Branch Canal, Hickling Broad,
High lane Branch Canal, Hobhole Drain,
Hollinwood Branch Canal, Horbury Old Cut,
Horsey Mere, Houghton Branch Canal,
Huddersfield Broad Canal, Huddersfield Narrow Canal, River Hull, River Humber, Humber Arm Branch Canal,
Hundred Foot River, Hundred Stream,
Icknield Port Wharf Branch Canal, River Idle,
Ipswich and Stowmarket Navigation, Junction Drain,
River Kennet, Kennet and Avon Navigation, King’s Dike,
Knottingley and Goole Canal, Kyme Eau,
Lakenheath Lode, Lancaster Canal, Langley Dike,
River Larke, Lea Wood Branch Canal, River Lee,
Leeds and Liverpool Canal, Leicester Navigation,
Leicestershire and Northamptonshire Union Canal,
Leigh Branch Canal, Lemington Cut, Leven Canal,
Limehouse Cut, Linton Lock Navigation,
Little Eaton Branch Canal, London and Hampshire Canal,
Lake Lothing, Loughborough Navigation,
Louth Navigation, Lowestoft Harbour,
Lydney Harbour and Canal, Macclesfield Canal,
Manchester, Bolton, and Bury Canal,
Manchester and Salford Junction Canal,
Manchester Ship Canal, Earl Manvers’ Canal,
Market Harborough Branch Canal,
Market Weighton Drainage and Navigation,
Martham Broad, Maud Foster Drain, Meadow Dike, Medlam Drain, River Medway, River Mersey,
Mersey and Irwell Navigation, Middle Level Navigations,
Middlewich Branch Canal, Monmouthshire Canal,
Montgomeryshire Canal, Monway Branch Canal,
Neath Canal, River Neath, Nechells Branch Canal,
River Nene, Netherton Tunnel Branch Canal,
New Bedford River, New Cut, New Dike,
Newark Navigation,
Newcastle-Under-Lyme Branch Canal,
Newhall Branch Canal,
Newhaven Harbour and Ouse Lower Navigation,
Newport Branch Canal, The North River,
North Stafford Canal,
North Walsham and Dilham Canal,
North Wilts Branch Canal,
Northampton Branch Canal, River Norwich,
Norwich and Lowestoft Navigation,
Nottingham Canal, Nutbrook Canal,
Ocker Hill Branch Canal,
Ocker Hill Lower Branch Canal,
Old Bedford River, Old Shropshire Canal,
Old Stratford and Buckingham Branch Canal,
Old Union Canal, Old West River,
Oldbury Loop Line Canal,
Oozells Street Branch Canal, Oulton Dike and Broad,
River Ouse (Bedford), Little River Ouse,
River Ouse (Sussex), River Ouse (York), Ouse Burn,
Oxford Canal, Paddington Branch Canal,
Park Gate Branch Canal, River Parrett, Peak Forest Canal,
Peckham Branch Canal, Pensnett Canal,
Pensnett Chase Branch Canal, Pinxton Branch Canal,
Pocklington Canal, Pontcysyllte Branch Canal,
Popham’s Sea, Poplar Arm Branch Canal,
Prees Branch Canal, Preston Brook Branch Canal,
Rainham Creek, Sir John Ramsden’s Canal,
Ramsey High Lode, Ranworth Dike and Broad,
Reach Lode, Red Jacket Pill Branch Canal,
Regents Canal, Ridgacre Branch Canal,
Ripon and Boroughbridge Canal, Rochdale Canal,
Rockland Dike and Broad, River Roding,
Rother River Branch Navigation,
Royal Military Canal, Rufford Branch Canal,
Rugby Wharf Branch Canal,
Runcorn and Latchford Branch Canal,
Runcorn and Weston Canal, Rushall Canal,
St. Helens Canal, St. Thomas’s Creek,
St. Thomas’s Mill Stream, Great Salhouse Broad,
Little Salhouse Broad, Sandhills Branch Canal,
Sankey Canal, Selby Branch Canal,
River Severn
(a) Short Description
The navigation of the River Severn may be said to commence at Arley Quarry Landing … in the county of Shropshire. Regular trade on the river is, however, only carried on between the junction with the Staffordshire and Worcester Canal at Stourport and the junction with the Gloucester and Berkeley Ship Canal in Gloucester…
The portion of the river between Sharpness and Gloucester, to avoid which the Gloucester and Berkeley Ship Canal was constructed, is hardly used at all for navigation on account of the dangerous shifting sands and great strength of the tide. Occasionally, however, it is used by trows desirous of saving the tolls incurred on the Gloucester and Berkeley Ship Canal.
After leaving Gloucester the river widens out into an estuary, which, between Fretherne and the Severn Tunnel varies between five furlongs and two and a quarter miles in width. Below the Severn Tunnel the estuary again increases in width, and finally becomes merged with the Bristol Channel.
The whole course of the river above Gloucester is liable to floods … known to rise eighteen feet in five hours, and not unfrequently to attain the height of twenty-five feet above the level of low water.
The western channel of the river from the Upper Parting via Maisemore to the Lower Parting in Gloucester is not a through route, but is only used by vessels going to local wharves.
There is a towing path throughout the upper portion of the navigation from Arley Quarry Landing to Gloucester. From Arley to Bewdley the towing-path and river bank is much overgrown with bushes. From Stourport to Gloucester the towing-path is … in the hands of two separate companies, one extending from Stourport to Worcester, and the other from Worcester to Gloucester. The towing-path between Stourport and Gloucester is very little used, as steam tugs haul practically the whole of the traffic …
High Spring tides flow up to Upton-on-Severn … Neap tides flow to between Framilode and Gloucester.
On Spring tides the first of the flood tide runs up the lower part of the river to Gloucester with a ‘bore’ or tidal wave which attains its greatest height about Stone Bench … The tide in the river below Gloucester runs with great velocity, which is stated on the Spring tides to be as much as 12 knots an hour past Sharpness Point.
High water at Avonmouth about 15min. before Bristol or 5hrs. after London Bridge … High water at Sharpness about 1 hr. after Avonmouth … High water at Framilode about 1 hr. 45min. after Avonmouth … High water at Gloucester on Spring tides about 2hrs. 45min. after Avonmouth …
Sea-going vessels navigate the river up to Sharpness Docks. Vessels of 200 tons burden can navigate up to Diglis, Worcester. Severn trows navigate the whole of the river. Marrow boats navigate the river above then entrance of the Gloucester and Berkeley Ship Canal at Gloucester. Steam tugs belonging yo the Severn and Canal Carrying Company tow vessels regularly between Gloucester and Diglis, and between Diglis and Stourport.
Sharpness New Docks and Gloucester and Birmingham Navigation Company
(a) Short Description
… The Gloucester and Berkeley Ship Canal commences by a junction with the River Severn at Gloucester, and after passing numerous wharves and warehouses in the city proceeds to Sharpness, where it forms a junction with the estuary of the River Severn through Sharpness Docks, all in the company of Gloucestershire. Eight miles from Gloucester, near Saul, the canal crosses the Stroudwater Canal on the level.
The canal was constructed to avoid the navigation of the dangerous reaches of the River Severn between Sharpness and Gloucester. Practically the whole of the traffic above Sharpness to Gloucester, and places beyond, passes over the canal…
For all purposes of tolls and charges in respect of any merchandise which is conveyed in a boat through the Severn Locks at Gloucester, and is loaded or unloaded at any place on the canal situate within two miles from the said locks, the distance traversed by such a boat on the canal shall be taken as equal to four miles…
Any steamer exceeding 32ft. beam or 225ft. in length can only pass up the canal by special permission, and at such draught as the Harbour Master may direct…
Sheffield Canal,
Sheffield and South Yorkshire Navigation,
Shorncliffe and Rye Canal, Shrewsbury Canal, Shropshire (Coalport) Canal, Old Shropshire Canal,
Sixteen Foot River, Slough Branch Canal,
Smith’s Leam,
Sneyd and Wyrley Bank Branch Canal,
Soar River, Soho Branch Canal,
Somerleyton Dike,
Somersetshire Coal Canal Navigation,
South Forty Foot River, South Walsam Broad,
River Sow, Spon Lane Locks Branch Canal,
Springs Branch Canal, Stafford Branch Canal,
Staffordshire and Worcestershire Canal,
Stainforth and Keadby Canal, Stalham Dike,
Stanley Cut Branch Canal,
Stockport Branch Canal, Stonebridge Drain,
River Stort, River Stour (Kent),
River Stour (Suffolk), River Stour (Worcestershire),
Stourbridge Canal, Stourbridge Branch Canal,
Stourbridge Extension Canal,
Stroudwater Canal
(a.) Short Description.
The canal commences at Wallbridge, Stroud, by a junction with the Thames and Severn Canal, and proceeds by Dudbridge, Stonehouse, Estington, and Saul to Framilode, where it joins the estuary of the River Severn, all in the county of Gloucestershire. One mile from Framilode the canal crosses the Gloucester and Berkeley Ship Canal on the level.
There is a towing path throughout the navigation
Types of vessels using the navigation.
Severn trows and barges carrying up to 75 tons.
Stover Canal, Stowmarket and Ipswich Navigation,
Stratford-on-Avon Canal, Stretford and Leigh Canal, Stretton Wharf Branch, Surrey Canal,
Duke of Sutherland’s Tub Boat Canal, Sutton Dike,
Swansea Canal, Tag Cut, River Tamar,
Tame Valley Canal, Team Rivulet, River Tees,
River Teign, Ten Mile River, Tennant Canal,
River Thames
(a) Short Description.
Although there is no navigation on the river above the junction with the Thames and Severn Canal at Inglesham, yet the jurisdiction of the Thames Conservancy commences at Cricklade, and the Conservators have power to charge tolls from that place. The course of the river between Cricklade and Inglesham is in close proximity to the Thames and Severn Canal, passing Eisey, Castle Eaton, and Kempsford. Leaving Inglesham the river proceeds by Lechlade, Buscot, Radcot Bridge, Tadpole Bridge, Shifford New Bridge, Northmoor, Bablock-hithe Ferry, Eynsham, Godstow, Oxford, Iffley, Sandford, Abingdon, Culham, Clifton Hampden, Shillingford, Benson, Wallingford, Moulsford, Streatley, Goring, Whitchurch, Pangbourne, Mapledurham, Caversham, Reading, Sonning, Shiplake, Wargrave, Henley, Hambledon, Medmenham, Hurley, Marlow, Bourne End, Cookham, Maidenhead, Bray, Windsor, Eton, Datchet, Old Windsor, Staines, Laleham, Chertsey, Weybridge, Shepperton, Walton, Sunbury, Hampton, East Molesey, Hampton Court, Thames Ditton, Long Ditton, Kingston, Teddington, Twickenham, Richmond, Isleworth, Brentford, Kew, Mortlake, Barnes, Chiswick, Hammersmith, Putney, Fulham, Wandsworth, Battersea, Chelsea, Vauxhall, Lambeth, Westminster, Blackfriars, and Southwark to London Bridge. Leaving London Bridge the river continues its course by St. Katherine’s Dock, London Docks, Wapping, Shadwell, Surrey Commercial Docks, Limehouse Docks, West India Docks (upper entrance), Millwall Docks, Deptford, Greenwich, Blackwall, West India Docks (lower entrance), East India Docks, Victoria Docks, Woolwich, Royal Albert Dock, Beckton Cross Ness, Erith, Purfleet, Greenhithe, Grays Thurrock, Northfleet, Tilbury Docks, and Gravesend. Below Gravesend the river rapidly widens out into an estuary, and after passing Southend and The Nore, where it receives the River Medway, becomes submerged into the North Sea.
From Cricklade to a point about half-a-mile below Castle Eaton, the course of the river is situated in the county of Wiltshire; for the remainder of its course the river forms almost entirely the boundary between various counties … On the left bank … Gloucestershire … Oxfordshire … Buckinghamshire … Middlesex … Essex … On the right bank … Wiltshire … Berkshire … Surrey … Kent …
From Cricklade Town in the county of Wiltshire to an imaginary line drawn from the entrance to Yantlet Creek in the county of Kent to the Crow Stone, situated between Leigh and Southend, in the county of Essex, the river is under the jurisdiction of the Conservators of the River Thames.
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Thames and Medway Canal;
Thames and Severn Canal
(a) Short Description.
The canal commences at Wallbridge, Stroud, where it forms a junction with the Stroudwater Canal, and proceeds by Brimscombe, Chalford, Daneway, Siddington, South Cerney, Latton, Marston Meysey, and Kempsford to Inglesham, where it forms a junction with the River Thames, all in the county of Gloucestershire.
There is one short branch from Siddington to Cirencester.
Boats enter the west end of the (Sapperton) tunnel at 12 noon, and the east end of the tunnel at 7-0 a.m. and 6-0 p.m., except on Sundays.
There is a towing path throughout the navigation, except through Sapperton tunnel.
Barges navigate the canal between Stroud and Brimscombe. Narrow boats are in use on the whole of the Main Line and Cirencester Branch.
Doctor Thomas’s Canal; Thorney River; Thurne Dike; River Thurne;
Tir-Isaf Branch Canal;
Titford Branch Canal;
Toll End Communication; River Tone; River Trent; Trent and Mersey Canal; Trewyddfa Canal;
Tuddenham Mill Stream Branch Navigation;
Twenty Foot River;
Two Lock Line Canal;
River Tyne;
Ulverston Canal; Upton Dike; River Ure;
Vermuyden’s Eau; Walsall Canal; Walsall Branch Canal;
Walton Summit Branch Canal;
Wandsworth Creek; Wandsworth Cut;
Lord Ward’s Canal;
Wardle Lock Branch Canal;
Warwick and Birmingham Canal;
Warwick and Napton Canal;
Waterworks River; River Waveney;
Waxham New Cut; River Weaver; Weaver Canal;
Wednesbury Oak Loop Line;
Wednesbury Old Canal;
Welford Branch Canal; Well Creek;
River Welland; Wendover Branch Canal;
River Wensum; West Fen Drain;
Weston Canal; Weston Branch Canal;
River Wey;
Whaley Bridge Branch Canal;
River Wharfe;
Whitchurch Branch Canal;
Whitesley Mere;
Willenhall Branch Canal;
Wilts and Berks Canal; Wirral Line;
Wisbech Canal; River Witham;
Witham Drainage General Commissioners Navigable Drains;
Withymoor Branch Canal;
Woking, Aldershot, and Basingstoke Canal;
River Wye;
Wyken New Colliery Branch Canal;
Wyrley and Essington Canal;
River Yare; River Yeo.
